Swapped
Swapped is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Gingo Animation for Universal Pictures. It was directed by Larry Huber (in his directorial debut) and Jess Riol from a screenplay by Brian Lynch and a story by Caroline Berthier and Maureen Sery. The seventh feature film from Gingo Animation, the film stars the voices of Sarah Vowell, Freddie Highmore, Leslie Mann and Dave Foley, and follows a young girl and a teenage goth boy who swap bodies. Swapped was released on July 2, 2008 in the United States, and was met with mixed critical reception, while the general public received it favorably. Despite this, however, the film was a box office success, grossing $376 million worldwide on its $70 million budget. Plot Coming soon! Voice cast * Sarah Vowell as Suzanne "Suz" Grady, a smart and clever 12-year-old girl * Freddie Highmore as Lee Webb, a goth and emo teenage boy and a neighbor of Suz * Leslie Mann as Malaria Nickerson, the leader and head of the National Swap Center (NSC) * Dave Foley as Rodney Nickerson, Malaria's clumsy and awkward son and assistant of the NSC ** Jeremy Shada as Young Rodney * Ashley Johnson as Chloe Andersen, Suz's best friend * Michael Yarmush as Johnny Long, a friend of Lee * Amanda Bynes as Maria, a friend of Suz * Caroline Dhavernas as Leah, a friend of Suz * Shantel VanSanten as Karen, a friend of Suz * Larry Huber as Norman, a member of the NSC * Wendy Hoffman as Alice Grady, the mother of Suz * Carlos Alazraqui as Patrick Grady, the father of Suz * Nika Futterman as Lee's mother * Matthew W. Taylor as Lee's father * Mae Whitman as Kelly, a member of the NSC * Harland Williams as a teacher * Laura Bailey as a NSC member * Tom Kenny as one of the NSC members * Rob Huebel as a NSC manager * Brian Lynch as a reporter Additional voices * Isabella Acres * Lori Alan * Emily Anderson * Jack Angel * Brian Lynch * André Sogliuzzo * Bob Bergen * Cam Clarke * Freddie Long * Julie Craig * John Cygan * Melissa Disney * Samuel Mokugusn * Jim Conroy * Jennifer Hale * Mark Hentemann * Sherry Lynn * Danny Mann * Mona Marshall * Mickie McGowan * Laraine Newman * Jess Riol * Jan Rabson * Zack Shada * Jeremy Shada * James Kevin Ward * April Winchell * Will Shadley * Larry Huber * Ariel Winter Production The idea for Swapped began with Caroline Berthier and Maureen Sery who envisioned the film as a "body swapping" animated comedy. The film entered development in 2003, with Berthier and Sery as the film’s directors. Originally, the film was titled Dave & Joe and had a completely different story. This version of the story had a body swap of a relationship between a worker named Dave and a musician named Joe. However, when ''BJ and Wally'' was in production, Gingo CEO and founder Geo G. decided that the project should focus on a relationship between a boy and a girl rather than two men. Because of this, the film was put on hold due to several rewrites. Berthier and Sery left the project in 2006 following disputes over the film's creative direction, and were replaced by Larry Huber, an animator known for his history as a producer at Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears, and Nickelodeon and also the co-creator of Nickelodeon's ChalkZone, and Jess Riol, a co-producer on BJ and Wally. The new story originally evolved Lee Webb as the lead role and Suz Grady was essentially his next-door neighbor. For a while, the filmmakers were "very committed" to that version of the story, but in December 2006, they realized the film's plot would be more engaging if they reversed the roles to instead focus on Suz as opposed to Lee, thus making Swapped the first Gingo film to feature a female protagonist. Soundtrack In June 2007, Mark Mothersbaugh, who composed the score for ''Paint World'', was revealed to be returning to Gingo Animation to score Swapped. Interscope Records released the soundtrack on July 1, 2008. Video game A video game based on the film was released on June 24, 2008 for the Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Release Swapped was originally scheduled for a May 16, 2008 release, but Universal Pictures moved the release up to July 2, 2008, mainly due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Marketing *The official teaser was released on July 6, 2007 and was shown before Computeropolis 2, The Simpsons Movie, Bratz, Daddy Day Camp, and Mr. Bean's Holiday. *The first theatrical trailer was released on November 2, 2007 and was shown before Bee Movie, Fred Claus, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, Enchanted, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. *The second theatrical trailer was released on March 14, 2008 and was shown before Horton Hears a Who!, Speed Racer, Marcus Troy and the Race Against Time, Kung Fu Panda, and WALL-E. *TV spots began to air in June 2008. *McDonald's released 6 Happy Meal toys based on the characters from the film. Home media Swapped was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 2, 2008. Reception Box office Coming soon! Critical response Swapped has received mixed reviews from critics. Praise went to the animation, voice acting, characters, humor and concept, while criticism was aimed at the weak plot. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 51% approval rating with an average rating of 6/10, based on 143 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Though Swapped often delivers its zany visuals and the familiar charm of the well-known works of Gingo to keep the family-friendly audience entertained, its rehashed story mocks up Freaky Friday-esque elements." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 49 out of 100 based on 48 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Accolades Coming soon! Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. Category:Films Category:2000s Category:2008 Category:Swapped Category:Universal Pictures animated films Category:Gingo Animation animated films